The week's good news: January 18, 2018

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1. Grandson surprises grandfather by secretly restoring his '57 Chevy Bel Air
2. Man visiting Chicago gives stranger in need the winter boots off his feet
3. Montecito family who lost home in mudslide finds missing cat in rubble
4. Daughter saves father's struggling bakery with a viral tweet
5. Heroic dog that served in World War II receives posthumous medal

published 18 January 2018

1. Grandson surprises grandfather by secretly restoring his '57 Chevy Bel Air

If he wasn't before, Cam Dedman is now definitely his grandfather's favorite. Last year, Dedman decided that for his grandfather Fred Lamar's birthday, he would surprise him by completely restoring his 1957 Chevy Bel Air. "My grandpa is like my best friend," Dedman told WDRB. "He does everything with me." The car had been sitting in his grandparents' garage since 1976, and was in terrible shape. Throughout the restoration process, Dedman posted updates on social media, and family and friends who watched from start to finish flew to Kentucky last weekend to watch as he surprised Lamar with the car on his 81st birthday. Lamar was so stunned, he cried. He'd bought the car when he was 28, and never thought he'd see it look brand new again. Dedman and Lamar plan on traveling across Kentucky in the Bel Air, visiting different car shows.

While riding on a train in Chicago Friday night, passenger Jessica Bell watched as an act of kindness took place next to her. Across from Bell was an older homeless man, whose feet were bleeding through his socks and his tattered sneakers. Maurice Anderson, visiting from Kentucky, sat near him, and asked what size shoe he wore. When he replied "12," Anderson didn't hesitate to take his boots off and hand them to the man. "He's already in distress, he's out in the cold, riding the train," Anderson told ABC Chicago. "If I'm not reaching out to help someone, I can't say anything." The homeless man was in shock by Anderson's gesture, and said he believed he had frostbite from the cold. Bell said the simplicity of the act resonated with her: "It was a really selfless and quiet act, no fanfare. It just happened."

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They lost their home and all of their possessions in the devastating Montecito mudslides, but Lindsey and Woody Thompson said they held out hope they would be reunited with their cat, Koshka. "We knew that she was alive and we knew that she was smart and she would find a safe spot to be and she did," Woody Thompson said. It wasn't safe to go up to the house until Jan. 9, and the property was checked by animal services every day. On Monday, officers entered the house through a window, and found Koshka in the rubble "with mud-caked fur [...] thankful to see her rescuers." The Thompsons were overwhelmed when they got to hold Koshka again. "We needed this," Lindsey Thompson said. "Thank you. You're our heroes."

With one tweet, Jackie Garza saved her family's bakery. The Houston teenager was heartbroken after her father, Trinidad Garza, confessed that sales at La Casa Bakery and Café had slowed after Hurricane Harvey, and that he might need to shutter the business for good. Taking matters into her own hands, Jackie tweeted a video of her father hand-making Mexican pastries like pan dulce, along with a call for support. Within days, customers from all over Texas were pouring in, causing Trinidad — who had never even heard of Twitter — to almost run out of bread. "I've had messages from Japan, Australia, Europe," a flabbergasted Jackie told ABC13.

More than 70 years after he saved U.S. troops by attacking an enemy soldier on a beach in Italy, Chips was recognized for his courage during World War II. Chips was a German shepherd-husky mix donated to the war effort, and on Monday he posthumously received the Dickin Medal, Britain's highest honor for animal bravery. Chips landed on a beach in Sicily in 1943, and U.S. soldiers said he found a machine gun nest, bit the enemy soldier in the neck, and pulled the gun from its mount; later that day, he also helped capture 10 more enemy soldiers. Chips was later honorably discharged. He also served as sentry to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the Casablanca Conference, and met Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower — taught to bite strangers, he chomped down on his hand when the future president tried to pet him.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.